Former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has advised that stolen artefacts returned to Africa should be leased to foreign museums.
He said this in reaction to the news that the University of Aberdeen is preparing to return a Benin bronze sculpture that was looted by British soldiers in Nigeria.
According to a statement on the University’s website, “Thousands of metal and ivory sculptures and carvings were looted by British forces in 1897 during the destruction of Benin City in present-day Nigeria by a British military expedition.
“Many of the soldiers and administrators involved sold Benin objects to museums or private collectors. Others were later given as gifts to museums or sold at auction or by art dealers.
“Over the last 40 years, there have been growing calls for the return of such items, which have become symbols of injustice.
“A number of museums have been discussing the Benin bronzes in their collections and are supporting the creation of the Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City to display the returned items under agreements wrought by all parties.”
Reacting to the news, Shehu Sani said some of the artefacts should be leased out to foreign museums so as to raise funds for the maintenance of those in Africa.
He tweeted, “The return of the Benin artifacts forcefully taken by British Soldiers in 1897 closed a chapter in historical heists. African states should think of LEASING Some of these artifacts to foreign museums enable them raise funds to maintain those at home.”
A report by AFP had said that the University of Aberdeen in Scotland is to return a Benin bronze sculpture to Nigeria, saying it was acquired by British soldiers in 1897 in “reprehensible circumstances”.
According to the report, it is the first institution to agree to the full repatriation from a museum of a Benin bronze, raising pressure on other establishments, including the British Museum, to follow suit.
The university acquired the bronze sculpture depicting an “Oba” (king) of Benin at auction in 1957, and it is considered a classic example of Benin Late Period Art.
It was originally taken in 1897, when a British military expedition attacked and destroyed Benin City, looting thousands of metal and ivory sculptures and carvings, known as the Benin bronzes, from the royal palace.
Benin City, in present-day southern Nigeria, was the seat of a powerful West African kingdom at the time.
The university called it “one of the most notorious examples of the pillaging of cultural treasures associated with 19th-century European colonial expansion”.
“It would not have been right to have retained an item of such great cultural importance that was acquired in such reprehensible circumstances,” said university vice-chancellor George Boyne.
Neil Curtis, head of museums and special collections, said a review of its collections identified the work “as having been acquired in a way that we now consider to have been extremely immoral.
“So we took a proactive approach to identify the appropriate people to discuss what to do,” he added.
A panel of academic specialists and curators unanimously recommended its return to Nigeria and the university’s governing body supported the unconditional return.
Nigeria’s minister of information and culture Lai Mohammed called the move a “step in the right direction” and urged other holders of Nigerian antiquity “to emulate this”.
Some museums support the creation of the Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City to house the looted artefacts.
These include the British Museum, which cannot legally give up possession of its artefacts and is reportedly considering lending its bronzes.
A Cambridge University college said in 2019 it would return a Benin bronze of a cockerel that was taken down from display at the famous education establishment after a student protest.
